Rusk County, Texas · Henderson
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Rusk County averages 2 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly midwinter, and 23% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in April. Rusk County averages 16 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Rusk County gets about 16 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 23 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
8% of occupied homes in Rusk County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
About 131 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 21,311 homes and around 52,842 residents, Rusk County is 924 square miles of eastern Texas. Besides Henderson, the county seat, the biggest communities are Lake Cherokee, Overton and Tatum. The county's median home was built in 1980.
60/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Rusk County ranks 45 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Rusk County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
For frozen pipes, Rusk County is a typical Texas county, which is still plenty. It averaged 24 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 2 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 232 Texas counties that's 126th.
The longest cold spell was straight 4 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -2°F on February 16, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
With only about 24 freezing nights a year, many homes here aren't built for cold, so a single arctic outbreak can burst pipes across the county. The record low in this data was about -2°F, on February 16, 2021.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Texas. About 16 days a year bring an inch or more (22nd of 232), most often in April, out of 53.2 inches of total precipitation. On March 9, 2016, 4.86 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.03 inches (through March 11, 2016).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 23 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Texas's 232 counties range widely in housing age; Rusk ranks 98th, with 49% of its homes built before 1980.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 23% predate 1960 and 26% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 25% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
19% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Texas county median of 13.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 131 times a year here, close to the Texas county median of 129. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Rusk County's occupied homes: 27% utility gas, 65% electric, 7% propane and 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Rusk County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Smith gets more pipe-freeze nights than Rusk. Gregg County has the oldest housing nearby, with 50% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Rusk | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 20% | 97 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 49% | 46% | 98 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 26% | 26% | 123 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 13% | 58 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 17% | 125 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.8% | 6.5% | 98 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 126 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 16/yr | 7.8/yr | 22 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 23/yr | 27/yr | 129 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 131/yr | 129/yr | 114 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Rusk County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in March, April and May.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology